enjoy everlasting lifec Shall we then be indifferent
about that which brought him down from heaven ? How shall we bear the sight of him in the day of judgment, when we shall behold him in the very same body which he assumed on earth ? How will that stupendous effort of his love reproach and confound us ! How shall we even wish that we had been permitted to perish like the fallen angels, instead of being left to contract that more aggravated guilt of sinning against a God in our own nature, and rejecting the salvation which he died to purchase for us ! If we could suppose the Saviour now capa- ble of weeping, as once he did over the impenitent Jerusalem, methinks he must be now weeping over many of us, to see how his love has been disregarded by us, and that the only effect of it is to aggravate our condemnation. Let us awake from this fatal stupor ; let us follow him in our hearts to those realms of glory where he now dwells ; and strive incessantly for the attainment of that kingdom, where we shall be with him and like him for ever.]
c Gal. iv. 4, 5.
John i. 16. Of his fulness have all tve received, and grace for
grace.
THE sacred writers never seem to be afraid lest they should exalt Christ too much, or ascribe to him a glory which did not properly belong to him. St. John in particular evinces a desire to magnify him as much as possible, and sets forth his perfect equality with the Father in as strong and perspicuous terms as language would afford. In the chapter before us he declares that Christ was not only co-existent with God before the world, but that he himself was God, the sole Creator of the universe ; and in the words we have just read, he represents him as the only source of all gooda.
That we also may be led to glorify his name, we shall shew,
I. What is that fulness spoken of in the text —
a If ver. 15. be considered as in a parenthesis, the connexion between ver. 14. and 16. will be clear and manifest.
1599.] believer's interest in Christ's fulness. 207
Jesus Christ has in himself all the fulness of the Godhead15. But this cannot be the fulness of which the Apostle speaks, because the Godhead is abso- lutely incommunicable to the creature. There is another fulness, which, according to the Father's ap- pointment, dwells in him as our Mediator0, namely, a fulness of every thing which his redeemed people can stand in need of —
[Are we immersed in darkness, and sitting in the shadow of death ? He is " the light of the world ; and whosoever followeth him shall not abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life d." Are we inexpressibly guilty, and incapable of working out a righteousness for ourselves? He is " Jehovah our Righteousness e," and " the end of the law for righteous- ness to every one that believethf." — Are we so depraved as to be " altogether filthy and abominable," and " insufficient of ourselves even to think a good thought ?" He has within himself a fountain of grace to " cleanse us from our filthiness," and to purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good worksg. Are we exposed to severe afflictions and manifold temptations? In him is boundless compassion to sympathize with us, and irresistible power to succour and support ush. Thus has he in himself a fulness of light to instruct, of merit to justify, of grace to renew, of compassion to pity, and of poiver to save us, even " to the very uttermost" of all our wants1.]
This fulness, however, is not the same with that which resides in his believing people —
[There is a fulness with which believers are filled, even " all the fulness of Godk." But theirs is widely different from his. Theirs is limited, being only " according to the measure of the gift of Christ1;" but his is unbounded; "the Father giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him ;" " he has the residue of the Spirit," dwelling and abiding in himm. Theirs moreover is derived from him as its proper source and fountain ; but his is essentially inherent in him: "in him was life" originally : " as the Father has life in himself, even so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself11." Theirs is for them- selves alone; they have not any to communicate to others0: His is for the use and benefit of his Church : he possesses it,